Newsletter 58: Wine 101 with Henry Wine Group

We started off our year doing something we like to do from time to time, we broke away from our cocktail focus to study up on wine! A very big THANK YOU to The Exhibition Room in Long Beach for donating their space for this event, we love this bar and if you haven’t been yet, go Go GO!!

Our presenter for the evening was Mr. Kevin Butler of Henry Wine Group, he gave us a great background on wine making and tasted us through a line-up of whites and reds. Here is a copy of Kevin’s Wine Basics

Kevin Butler – Wine Basics

We all had our favorites, here is a recap of the wines we tasted (all are available through Henry Wine Group, so hit up your local rep!)

OCBC member Matt Ellingson gave an amazing presentation on high-end vintage wine bottle service. Some great pointers to remember were to consider the sediment in the bottle like a snow-globe, always pull, present, decant and serve the bottle in the same position it was resting. Also, when decanting, always pour over a light (an LED flashlight is recommended) and watch for the smokey wisps to appear. That is your sediment and your signal to stop pouring. The smell of a corked wine should be obvious, it smells like Pirates of the Caribbean, when you come across one use it as a training opportunity.

Matt Ellingson – Service Technique

Our next meeting will be held on Monday, February 2nd at 7pm in Santa Ana. Our hosts will be Aidan Demarest from Suerte Tequila as well as Cari Hah from Leblon Cachaca! It will be a treat to hear from these two, you dont want to miss it. Plus, we’ve been nerding out on types of sugars lately so we’ll be presenting an education on that!

As always, to maintain the quality of service, presentation, space, food and drink we are limiting the capacity to 35 and must insist on RSVPs. Please get your RSVP in early and send it to info@bartenderscabinet.com. Let us know if something comes up so we can make your spot available to someone else if you can’t make it.